At this Shibuya social night, you walk into a standing bar, collect a wristband and name tag, then start talking instead of waiting for a tour guide to lead you around. I like the easy solo format and the mix of UNO, Jenga, and cards, which gives you something to do when an opening line…
Tokyo has no shortage of sake bars, but this two-hour session makes the drink easier to understand. You taste seven Japan-exclusive sakes through four themed courses, while certified sommeliers explain rice, brewing, temperature, spices, and glassware around a handsome Showa-era wood table. Names associated with the sessions include Eric, Aaron, Frank, and Phillip. I like…
Tokyo’s best evening meal may be a moving one. This Shinjuku food tour takes you from a discreet sushi restaurant to a Wagyu yakiniku table, then into Kabukicho for dessert or a drink. The food is not just a string of samples. You get a look at how sushi chefs work and cook your own…
Mount Fuji is best seen from several angles, and this 10-hour day trip gives you a lot of them in one sweep. From Lake Kawaguchi and flower-filled Oishi Park to the red torii and Chureito Pagoda, you get the classic Fuji photographs without piecing together buses and trains. I like the eight-stop plan and the…
Tokyo’s old-style Yakatabune houseboat offers a rare mix of dinner, sightseeing, and local custom. You’ll sit low around a Japanese table, eat course after course, and watch Tokyo glow from the water as the boat moves between Shinagawa, Tokyo Bay, the Sumida River, Rainbow Bridge, Odaiba, and Tokyo Skytree. I like the freshly cooked tempura…
Shinjuku’s best night often begins in its narrowest lanes. This three-hour food walk takes you from postwar Omoide Yokocho through Kabukicho and into Golden Gai, where more than 200 tiny bars, pubs, stalls, and karaoke rooms crowd together. You eat along the way, but the real prize is learning how to read a part of…
Meiji Shrine gives you something Tokyo rarely offers: a quiet walk through a 100,000-tree forest before you reach one of the city’s best-known religious sites. The contrast is striking. Harajuku’s shops and crowds are close by, yet the shrine approach feels calm, shaded, and carefully set apart from city life. I like two things especially…
Tokyo is easiest to understand when you move through it at street level. This three-hour e-bike tour links major sights with quiet temples, gardens, bridges, and neighborhood roads that buses skip and subways hide. You cover real ground without the grind of a standard bicycle. I like the mix of famous Tokyo and everyday Tokyo,…
This is not a standard kimono rental. You choose a vintage garment, adjust it to fit, learn a simpler way to wear it, and take the finished piece home. I like the small maximum group of five and the warm, personal setting in Kiba. I also like that children, men, and larger or taller participants…
Tokyo Washoku 4-hour Cooking Class: From Market to Table The best part of this Tokyo cooking class happens before you reach the stove. You begin at a local supermarket near Iriya Station, where your guide shows you how to choose Japanese ingredients instead of simply handing you a premeasured basket. Then you walk to a…
Insider guides, cultural deep-dives and current-affairs reporting on Tokyo and Japan, written by people who live here and go to the places they write about.